PG yeah sure, want to move here?. Most violent per capita town around.

This is definately more serious. It's one thing to gun down a fellow criminal in a parking lot but drive by shootings have the possibility of involving many innocent people. City council needs to start getting serious about this crime and stop worrying about performing arts centers and bingo halls.

Any more questions on the downtown core?

Some of you still convinced these are just druggies that need help! Think about this long and hard!

Pick up the phone and REPORT Suspicious activity! Time we unite and start a drug HotLine that can be updated in realtime.
Take pictures,traffic info in known drug houses and areas.

Can someone in the City and RCMP please tell us what are the future plans on this growing problem?

Are there any real solutions being worked on?

Perhaps we need to go the way that England has gone. They have closed circuit camera's all over their downtowns. Crime has reduced dramatically. If we can just stop the whiners from crying about lack of privacy I think it would work well.

The crooks would simply move elsewhere if cameras were installed

Ditto lostfaith. They just move the problem around and do nothing to stop it. The solution, I believe without hesitation, is to legalize all drugs. It certainly won't stop harm but it sure as heck will reduce it. Check out this web site and see that a lot of law enforcement agree: www.leap.cc

Maybe PG needs more responsible drug dealers. You know, drug dealers who pay their drug debts, thus not being shot at and instead be sent an overdue notice relating to moneys incurred dealing drugs. Wanna bet this jerk will not cooperate with police? Betcha, betcha, betcha.

LOL legalize drugs? Ya that will solve problems.

"Perhaps we need to go the way that England has gone. They have closed circuit camera's all over their downtowns. Crime has reduced dramatically. If we can just stop the whiners from crying about lack of privacy I think it would work well." --RUEZ


Whiner here, and proud.

Removing liberty in the name of security is like removing oxygen in the name of fire prevention.

Hey ED if your doing nothing wrong don't worry about it!!!

P.s.
I also think this town needs a new sheriff..something as to be done before its really out of control,PG is going back to its old wild west days.

"Hey ED if your doing nothing wrong don't worry about it!!!"

It's this emerging attitude of complacency I'm worried about.

It is getting worse, when the pukes who have so little regard for anyone but themselves start taking over the streets. I too believe that cameras would help, if the filth know there are cameras watching they will indeed move their life wrecking trade elsewhere, but that would mean fewer vermin in areas that we need to protect, shopping, restaurants. I am also concerned about privacy, but with the limp wristed 'justice' system we are burdened with, alternative means must be found to work against the advancement of the misery that the putrid stinking gangs bring to our streets.
metalman.

Downtown PG is a dangerous, out of control place. It's getting worse and worse. City Hall needs to take off their rose colored glasses and realize that the downtown is absolutley disgusting. It's time to move on. The drug dealers, drunks, homeless people, and addicts have taken over. Nothing will change as long as the needle exchange, soup kitchens, etc remain down there. The shooting yesterday is not really big news...just another day in downtown paradise.

I agree with you PG Girl, what businessman who wants to have a successful business would even look at the downtown? Anyone who blames businesses for moving out or opening a new business elsewhere should really give their head a shake. Throwing any money at the downtown is an obvious waste until city council and the RCMP buck up and take a hard line on what's going on down there.

Maybe the owners of the TOny Romas' can exert some influence on city hall to provide more policing (not just cops cruising around observing, but actual policing) The Keg and Rics and the Ramada would surely appreciate it too, not to mention the other areas downtown.
metalman.

Putting cameras in the downtown will push the scum into residential areas.
Hmmmm that could be a good thing, lock and load.

Ya PGgirl, I say move the soup kitchens, needle exchanges and the like out in the middle of the bush somewhere.

Yea legalize drugs. Then we will have even more drug crazed freaks plus they will flock to Canada from the US. And I am sure all the gangsters will give up on a life of crime and get paper routes.

Hardcore criminals arent going anywhere unless we start to lock them up. Take away drugs and they will find other ways to make easy money.

Does anyone have statistics showing that gun crime in Prince George is so elevated compared to the rest of the country (or continent) that we should consider this "just another day in downtown paradise."

It's not only the gun crime...it's the beatings, the drug deals, the pan handlers, the drunks and everything else that I was considering this "just another day in downtown paradise". It's just creepy down there.

Know this law system we have in this country can't protect us from gangs, crime, drug smuggling, gun smuggling, hell they can't even stop cigarette smuggling. But they want us to believe they can protect us from terrorists, ya right.

I wonder how "safe" we'll be during the olympics, with so much resources diverted to protect the chosen few.

And, PG girl two, don't forget to include all the break & enters into cars and homes so the unfortunate sickos can get loot to hawk for drugs. From what little I have personally witnessed, I know that the low life dealers accept merchandise in trade for their society killing poison. So all the rules the establishment have imposed on the pawn shops have little or no effect on the rate of property theft, because the filth will take a television in trade for a few minutes of oblivion for the sicko.
metalman.

Well we should oganize somehow and form a complete city watch and start dealing with this ourselves.

These pukes need to be out numbered and dealt with!
I could careless if they don't have fresh needles downtown, clean this crap up!

We need to be tracking the movements of all this crime and passing it on to the RCMP.
They need leads and the more we provide along with eye witnesses the sooner we can clean this shit up!

This is not just a RCMP problem, it's all of our problem.

Legalizing drugs would greatly reduce this kind of crime. Very little crime is due to "crazed drug freaks" - most drugs don't have that effect. What causes crime is the illegality of drugs, which makes them an easy way to make a lot of money and thereby feeds gangs and organized crime, plus the fact that addicts need money with which to pay the inflated prices and often get it by stealing and prostitution.

Sprry billposer but legalizing drugs would not reduce this kind of crime. The gangs will still be around and to keep their income up they will get more people hooked on drugs. After WWII Britian deceided that they would legalize drugs for the addicts as a lot of them were soliders who became addicted in hospitals. They felt that after awhile all the street addicts would be gone. It did not work, as the dealers went new people and the drug problem got worse.

What I do not like is that I am supporting the drug dealers as my tax dollars taken by all levels of governments are spent supporting the addict through welfare, needle exchanges, etc.

"legalizing drugs", I believe would not work. For example cigarettes are legal, but look at the serious crimes committed to steal and smuggle cigarettes. Drugs would be just the same problem. The problem would not go away.

Lots of time and resources are committed to catch the big guys in gangs. Why not go after the street dealer. First offence you are gone for 3 years, no deal. Next offence 10 years, no deal. Next offence, gone forever, no deal. Maybe over time less people may get into the racket and the drug problem may slowly desolve. So why not go after the dumb ass on the street?

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with downtown or drunk natives. Drug dealers are in every neighbourhood of every city. It could just have easily happened in the utopian College Hgts or anywhere else.

And where Seamutt are we suposed to house these people? There are not enough prisons and the ones already in operation are over filled. It costs the tax payers $120,000.00 a year/per inmate. Most normal every day, hard working people do not make that much money to live on a year. This is why so many bad people walk our streets, there is no where to put them. And every year these people double in size because every year it becomes harder and harder to make ends meet. The poor are multiplying and with this comes defeat and people turn to drugs to either cope or make a better living. *Sigh We are losing the battle!

Funny how some people complain on the cost of putting these creeps in jail. It seems that these same people don't mind wasting money on the costs of cleaning up the aftermath of these less desirables.

If the cost of sending these crooks to jail is a growing concern, then i suggest contracting out the prisons to Mexico.

Some time back Mexico said, they could house each inmate for less that $5,000 per year if we ship them there.

Maybe it's time to out source the handling of inmates...just an idea....

People have to take charge. I know I have. I live downtown and I take no crap from anyone. Mind you I am in good shape and crack dealers tend to back off when they know you can protect yourself from harm if need be. I just be my own cop and deal with them. If I wait for the GRC to come nothing really never gets done. You have to be brave and not a coward which I find there are a lot of them in town here. Complain about it but do nothing not evan vote. Take charge people or go stay home and hide. To me I find there are a lot of do gooders that do nothing but complain.

People have to take charge. I know I have. I live downtown and I take no crap from anyone. Mind you I am in good shape and crack dealers tend to back off when they know you can protect yourself from harm if need be. I just be my own cop and deal with them. If I wait for the GRC to come nothing really never gets done. You have to be brave and not a coward which I find there are a lot of them in town here. Complain about it but do nothing not evan vote. Take charge people or go stay home and hide. To me I find there are a lot of do gooders that do nothing but complain.

I'd say, "Shoot 'em all, and let God sort 'em out".